Kiryienka Climbs to Victory in Stage 20 of the 2011 Giro d'Italia and Dedicates Victory to Xavier Tondo

Team Saxo Bank-SunGard's Alberto Contador closed in on his second Giro d'Italia title earlier this afternoon by comfortably maintaining his overall lead on the penultimate Giro stage, which was won by Team Movistar's Vasili Kiryienka after a solo breakaway.

Team Saxo Bank-SunGard's Alberto Contador closed in on his second Giro d'Italia title earlier this afternoon by comfortably maintaining his overall lead on the penultimate Giro stage, which was won by Team Movistar's Vasili Kiryienka after a solo breakaway.

Kiryienka rode alone for most of the 20th stage and finished the 242-kilometer (150-mile) ride from Verbania to Sestriere in 06 hours, 17 minutes, 03 seconds.

Contador looks all but certain to win the race after he finished eighth to maintain his lead of 5:18 over second-place Michele Scarponi in the overall standings. Vincenzo Nibali is third, 6:14 behind.

It will take a mishap for the Spaniard or a massive effort by Scarponi or Nibali in the 31.5-kilometer (19.5-mile) individual time trial around the streets of Milan on Sunday to prevent Contador from winning.

"It was a very long day and very tiring," Contador told the press after the long stage and continued "I wanted to stay near Scarponi and Nibali, be ready for the finish and see if I could take some points off them."

Kiryienka was part of a large breakaway group that took the initiative early. He eventually attacked on the twisting road up the 2,178-meter (7,145-feet) climb to Colle delle Finestre.

The Belarusian led the way as the tarmac surface gave way to gravel and he finished the climb with a lead of 3:50 before the descent down similarly testing conditions.

"Today was a pretty good day for me and my team," Kiryienka commented and added "It was very satisfying to win with such a big break."

Is there a way for me to gain access to the same training advice and log tools used by Giro d'Italia race leader Alberto Contador and support Roadcycling.com at the same time? YES! Sign up for a premium cycling traning diary or buy a training plan in our diary section. Our training log service is used by pro team Sky and Alberto Contador's Team Saxo Bank in the Giro d'Italia.